Ways to Cope With Depression: Shine A Light On The Shadows Of Your Life

Have you ever had a problem with depression? Before you answer that question, it’s important to realise exactly what depression is. A lot of people think that depression means feeling deeply sad for any period of time and that’s not true. Those suffering from depression are diagnosed because their mood has been low for weeks or even months. People with depression aren’t always sad, but it always recurs. The point to take away from this is feeling sad for a few hours or even a day doesn’t mean you are suffering from depression. We all have bad days.

The other point to understand is that depression comes in all different shapes and forms. For instance, you can suffer from smiling depression. Smiling depression, as the name suggests, is when the patient actually looks happy but on the inside, they are suffering from a deep depressive state.

If you do think you are suffering from depression, it’s important to find ways to help cope otherwise it can get progressively worse.

Finding The Cause

Certain forms of depression are not quite as widely understood. For instance, very little is known about the cause of bipolar depression. We understand that this is something to do with a chemical imbalance in the brain but aside from that causes are unclear. There is also evidence to suggest that bipolar is hereditary as patients often exhibit the same bipolar depression symptoms as their parents. However, the actual mood swings associated with this disorder can have a number of different triggers.

This is what patients suffering from it need to understand. To help with that, it’s best to speak with a cognitive therapist. Working with a therapist, it’s possible to find the root of the problem, and while the condition can’t be cured, mood swing causes can be avoided.

Seeking Companionship

It is possible that people experience depression due to a lack of social interaction. This is one of the reasons why it’s so important that elderly people maintain their social contacts. If they don’t, they often do experience high levels of depression. Although for some people, social interaction can be more difficult than others.

For instance, an elderly person may not have the physical ability to leave their home, drive somewhere or even get the bus. Instead, they are stuck inside all day, often by themselves. One possibility would be to seek a different form of companionship with a pet. Studies have shown that having a pet actually elevates the mood. For instance, just patting a dog can release hormones in the brain.

Writing It Out

Another possible way to deal with feelings of depression would be to write or type them out. Sometimes, putting your feelings to paper can help you understand and tackle them head on. Writing can have a long term effect on your mood and the overall state of the mental health. The hardest part is putting the pen on the paper for the first time. But once you start writing you might discover that you can’t stop. Eventually, you’ll have pages and pages of the feelings that you have kept locked up inside for so long.

Medication

Interestingly, doctors often use medication as a treatment for depression as a last resort. There’s good reason for this. When you take medication to change your mood you are using chemicals to alter the state of your mind. This can be dangerous, leading to addictions and even permanently altering how someone feels or their mental state. It can stifle creativity, and it might even impact an individual’s cognitive ability.

In some cases, medication is necessary, usually when the level of depression means the patient is a danger to themselves or others. However, in the majority of cases medication is avoided in favour of mental therapy.

Change In Environment

Finally, it is possible that your environment is the main cause of your depressive state. There’s actually research to show that levels of sunlight are directly related to how happy someone feels. That might explain why people in Hawaii seem so filled with joy and inhabitants of Scotland are a little more down to earth. At the very least, it highlights the importance of holidays, vacations and downtime. They need to be part of your lifestyle if you are going to avoid depressive states.

As you can see then, there are lots of different ways to elevate your mood if you are feeling depression. Some are definitely recommended over others, and often it can be treatment related to self-help that is most effective.